At yesterday's Inside Search event, Google announced new mobile developments, which cater to the company's claim that mobile search never stops.

Google's Amit Singhal suggests that consumers are always surfing the web via their mobile devices. This means marketers can cater to on-the-go audiences any time (importantly, whenever they are thinking about making a purchase).

At Google's Inside Search event, Singhal shared some data supporting his theory that mobile search never stops, and the company announced new mobile search features that may impact how on-the-go users surf the web. To start, Singhal offered a comparison of weekly desktop searches versus mobile searches. Desktop searches dwindle as the week goes on (as people spend less time at the office, he said). Meanwhile, mobile searches hold strong throughout the week, peaking on Saturdays.

Similarly, Singhal shared Google's metrics for the overall growth of desktop versus mobile search. In its early years, desktop searches (depicted in blue) showed fairly consistent growth, slowing during holiday seasons and weekends. Singhal suggested these slow search periods reflect times when people are away from their computers. The growth of mobile versus desktop search.

However, the rise of mobile search reveals that consumers don't lose the desire to look for information online simply because they aren't near a desktop. The steady growth of mobile search (depicted in red) indicates that consumers continue to search for content through the holidays when they have easily accessible (read: mobile) internet access.

To cater to these hungry mobile searchers, Google announced some updates that will make local mobile searches faster. Users can now tap on homepage icons (for food, shops, etc) to see Map results for businesses that are nearby. Tapping on results offers instant access to reviews and other relevant information. Local marketers might like how this product promotes the proximity of their businesses to mobile shoppers.

Also, Google is offering a “building a query” feature that allows users to add search phrases to suggested Instant searches. Ultimately, this lets them search for longer queries while typing less.

Marketers might also want to appeal to on-the-go searchers to draw mobile traffic to their sites. One way to do this is to consistently offer updated content that will provide searchers with new information every time they search (which it seems is pretty frequently!). Also, marketer should think about integrating their social and local marketing to attract mobile searchers.

As Brafton reported, experts at the recent SMX Advanced conference believe the industry is on the brink of the SoLoMo (social, local mobile) revolution, where proximity and advocacy will be key catching clicks.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.